Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 54th cycle. Now cycle 55!

Favorites cycle - It's that time again, where I gather a list of my fifteen favorite characters, relationships, friendships, etc of the moment! It's constantly evolving, and if I did it over today, as the list was selected weeks ago, it would already be different. But oh well, there'll be later opportunities ;) So then, here we go!
At number 6 - Paper Heart series

"Step Fifty-Five, Learn to Juggle"
Kurt, Santana, Brittany
Paper Heart series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

Being back in school now would be completely different for the two of them, they knew. Before, it was all about waiting on the birth, thinking about Brittany off at home on her own, waiting on the day when she would bring that baby boy into the world. Well, now, Harry was here, and she would be at home still until January to take care of him. It was one thing to worry about how she was doing through the day, but now they would think of how she was, how Harry was, and how they were doing together… and how they would have much rather been there with her than here in class.

Kurt was still staying at the Pierce home, in his room/the nursery, to help Brittany and be with Harry. For how slowly the days crawled by toward the end of the pregnancy, now their son was days old, and that seemed impossible, but there they were. They would say he was still acclimating to all the hands already in play as far as holding and caring for him, but it was clear he favored three in particular, without surprise, Brittany, Kurt, and Santana. She had been regular in her visits and could always be called, day or night.

Kurt had not opened his mouth with regards to Brittany's confession to him the day they had brought Harry home. He knew it had to come from them, and interfering would do no good. Brittany already had so much on her plate, and she couldn't be blamed for needing more time in coming clean with the girl she had told him she loved. He was just as aware that the object of her affection was holding on to her own share of affections for her in return, and all it would take to set things in motion would be for one of them to become aware, but he wouldn't act as 'idea' light bulb above their heads. As it was, they were spending this time together, looking after Harry, and he could see how happy they were together… They'd get there eventually, he did believe it. Until then though, he wasn't stepping in.

Santana had plenty to work through on her own as she had returned to school now after Harry's birth. There was the matter that he was the most little human being she'd ever seen, and when he was in her arms and looking up at her with those eyes of his, she felt like the most important person in the world. Even though she wasn't with him the way Kurt and Brittany would be, she was still there whenever she could, and if not there in person they could still count on her. But then there was the other thing, the part about how she had come out to her parents before she'd go to the hospital the day Harry was born. Though she had done this, beyond the walls of her home, her secret was still that. She had no idea how to proceed where the rest of the world was concerned, and even then she couldn't possibly do it, not until she'd talked to Brittany about it. To anyone else it would have felt like she had made no progress at all, but she knew more than anyone… she had taken that first leap, and it was all-important.

Back among their friends now, they were bombarded with questions left and right, all of them asking after how Harry was doing, wanting to see pictures… All at once they had become good for one thing and one thing alone, and that was to inform them on the baby boy. After a while it would get a bit too much, but they could sympathize with curiosity for the child.

"Look I have to go work with the girls for our number, but I'm telling you, next time they start asking questions, tell them about the diaper fiasco from two nights ago, don't leave any details out, then see how curious they are after," Santana had suggested, and it got a smirk out of him.

"That sounds disgusting and perfect, thanks," he told her. She 'tipped her hat' to him. "We have our number to work on, too, with the guys," he sounded like the thought of doing this was all but impossible, with how distracted and tired he was, but at the same time it would feel good to do it, like normal.

"Go on then, even if we'll beat you," she threw him a look.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," he met her look with one of his own.

He had gone on to meet the boys, while Santana joined the girls. They were all on edge, with Sectionals coming and their numbers still at eleven without Brittany. They tried to keep this fact quiet, or else she might try and return early, but couldn't do that to her… no matter how desperate they were. While the five of them were practicing though, some people who would remain nameless would still try and run the idea by Santana, and they'd get shot down each time.

After leaving his practice with the boys, Kurt had to call on the Pierce home. When Brittany picked up, her whispers told him where she must have been. "He just fell asleep," she informed him.

"How's he doing?" Kurt asked with a smile.

"Just fine," she promised him. "I've been reading him that new book you got me."

"I don't think he can understand you yet," he pointed out although the thought of it was amusing to him all the same.

"But he likes it, I'm telling you," Brittany went on.

"Okay, well when I get back maybe I can pitch in with reading, too… whenever that'll be."

"What do you mean?" Brittany asked.

"The guys want me to go spy on those guys at Dalton and see what they're like since we're up against them for Sectionals," he revealed. "So I might be late coming home."

"Oh, well that's okay, we'll be here."

"Right, okay… Later," he told her, hanging up and heading out to the parking lot with a sigh. He wasn't exactly in the mood for espionage, but then he imagined any of those other guys attempting to be covert and he knew he had to be the man for the job. He kind of hoped they sucked, but with his luck…

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!